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I think the 'depth versus complexity' argument only goes so far. One of the common complaints about combat in 5e is that it's a bit of a chore, but doesn't quite have enough tactical complexity to make it worth the effort. I think you could shave off a fair bit of the complexity of spells and...

4e completely passed me by at the time, though I've heard people sing its praises since. I just cracked open the DMG, and... It's pretty good! I might quibble about some things, but this seems like a much better text for teaching people to DM.

That's exactly what I don't want. Where do you get off, telling me what I do and don't want? I'm sorry I wasted time trying to talk with someone who lacks either the ability or the inclination to engage with the substance of my posts.

That assertion needs support. As for options: telling me I can ride, walk, or drive is giving me options. Telling me I can ride, walk, and drive simultaneously is not. This borders on juvenile. My argument is based on quotes from the text, in context with the text as a whole. Looking for...

There's a strong difference between hedging and choice. Choice implies rejection. Hedging is a refusal to commit. The DMG consistently (in my opinion; if you disagree, that's fine, but at this point I'm not going to be convinced by arguments that don't go to the text) sets up the DM as supreme...

How does one conjure a barrage without either magic or a company of archers?

We could go over the textual detail. My opinion is that the book (which I have indeed read) guides the reader toward the assumption that the DM should be railroading their players to some extent, but also hedges quite a bit. I didn't mean anything special by it: just a snap decision, without...

That excludes the possibility that they're learning not to play -- watching 'actual play' streams, passively consuming products, and showing up for weekly games where they quietly absorb the story fed to them. In any case, it's often entirely possible for people to bumble along with whatever is...

We're really going to do this? OK. The first bit I quoted, from the start of the book (which I note you did not feel a need to nit-pick) looks an awful lot like what one of my old professors would have called a 'programmatic statement.' That is, it's laying out the broader outline of what we...

In response to @Snarf Zagyg 's question about why any of this matters, let me first go back to the problem of 'DM decides' and it's ambiguity. Here's something that actually happened to me while playing 5e: DM: 'As you pass the town square, you see that a man is being tied to a stake by a large...

Thanks for replying. I realise now that my question was unhelpfully vague. Sure, but you can still answer questions like 'does this game follow a set story, the DM's story, or is it driven by the player characters?'. That's just low-hanging fruit. People who want to drive the story with their...

This is Princess Mononoke erasure. Now, there's a ranger concept I could get behind. The pet is supernatural, the ranger is just a stone cold killer.

The books aren't thin, they're huge. If you look at the Basic line of rules, or OD&D, the books are much more terse. With the exception of OD&D (IMO), they are also much more useful than the pile of prolix that is the 5e DMG. This is absolutely true, and I don't think anyone's denying it. Any...

I agree, but, this does support my original point: 5e is unfinished, and WotC relies on the community to insert knowledge (or project ideas, if I'm feeling less charitable) about how to actually play the game. If we go back to @pemerton 's example, I think his point still stands.

Not trying to be confrontational, but: I've read the DMG cover to cover, and I don't remember anything useful. I'll take a look at the videos, though.

I don't think its about game mechanics at all, or at least, not principally. Whether or not a class like a ranger uses magic is massively important from a purely aesthetic perspective, and has big worldbuilding implications. If you don't want to play a magical character, or run a ludicrously...

This is probably pointless, but: how often did Van Helsing cast magic?

Serious question: how does 5e teach these 'best practices'?

My brother in Christ, this is a world in which there are eldritch abominations beyond human ken living in people's basements. Going by your logic, fighters and rogues should also be wizards. Commoners should be wizards. Either magic is something special that only some people can do, or it's...

It's a matter of preference. Not every game is 'heroes save the world in a prepared adventure'. Some players are interested in exploring certain themes or challenges, and character choice is often an indication of that. For groups that want to play that way.